A constant cavalcade of crap
These days I read a lot of blogs. It's become a sad addiction, but I guess it's better for me than heroin or prostitutes. Cheaper, too. One thing I've noticed about them (blogs, not prostitutes) is when you discover a new one that's got just an awesome post at the top of it and you go through, going, "holy shit, I need to read like everything this person has ever posted because it fucking rocks and stuff." So you start from the beginning of their blogging life and read forward (at least, that's what I do because I'm pretty sure I have obsessive compulsive disorder). Anyway, you're enjoying things immensely. Shit is funny. Shit is profound. Shit is cool. But, like the way of all relationships, chemical imbalances, music acts, underage girls, etc., you get disappointed as time goes on. Things just aren't the same. The things you thought were cool and funny before have become annoying as fuck. You skim their latest posts, barely reading. You remove your link to their site. You eventually give up and delete their bookmark in your browser. They're dead to you.
Blogs are like bands, I guess. Either you catch them before they get really popular and you can be all cool going, "I was there way back when they only got like 2 comments per post." And then you can be a pretentious dick all going, "it sucks now that everybody reads it, man." You can also be someone who jumps on the bandwagon too late and be all like, "check this shit, homey!" and your homey is all like, "yeah, that was pretty tight when I first saw it like 6 months ago, you sorry bitch." Then you go and cry a little into your bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. It's a cutthroat world, this blogiverse. A constant struggle for survival, really.
Anyway, I figure that's how my little blog here will end up for a lot of you. You'll come to hate me eventually, and I'm cool with that. Even I'll admit that most of my past glories are, well, in the past. But, in an effort to stave that off somewhat, the observant among you will notice that I've added a "Greatest Hits" listing on my sidebar over to the right there. It's a blatant nostalgia pull, like making movies based on old TV shows, I know... But at least I'm man enough to admit it. Besides, is it really a nostalgia pull if the blog is only 5 months old? I think not. I've also added links to a few more blogs that I'm sure I'll hate someday. So enjoy them while they're linked on my ever-expanding sidebar.
Yeah, I realize that I shouldn't take the blog universe that seriously. Y'know, if you were thinking that before I mentioned it, you can just FUCK RIGHT OFF, BUDDY.
posted by Maki @ 9:03 PM
10 comments
10 Comments:
Freaky. I was thinking about doing a post about Samoas a week or so ago. I've decided to scrap it, but I'll let you in on some information I was going to include: Little Debbie German Chocolate Cookie Rings are virtually the SAME DAMN THING as Samoas, except their BIGGER and CHEAPER.
There now, go forth and gorge.
That was one of the first ones I wrote, and I felt so good about it back then. As I skimmed a few blogs (this was back in the early days, before I read like 500 of the damn things) I noticed an alarming trend... Around March or so, everybody and their brother writes a Girl Scout Cookie post. EVERYONE. I didn't feel nearly as cool after I realize this, but my work there was done. Reading it back, it's funny to think how differently I'd write it now, but I guess that's part of the charm. A few people have told me it's their favorite post of mine, so I feel obligated to link it.
And you really don't need to tell me about these Litte Debbie things. That was knowledge I was better off not knowing, considering the consequences it will have on both my mind and my diet. I am now off to the grocery store. Wish me luck.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
This is an interesting post. I've found myself thinking about the blogs I read lately and have come to find some of the first ones I started reading are now presenting their "true" personalities. For example, one that says she/he is not a "comment whore", and only seems to be that very thing. This person seems to post a lot of questions or controversial subjects to get a lot of comments. I get tired of blogs like that. I like funny stories from mundane lives.
I also find I like blogs with a bit of sarcastic humor that seems to fit the personality of the blogger and not just some silly nonsense to get peoples attention.
I too read peoples blogs from start to current, like yours, and that's when I decide if I want to come back and continue reading. My favorite post of yours so far is the one where you follow the girl in the Beetle. That was hilarious!
It is easy to get caught up in the comments thing. I know that, personally, it feels good to be "validated," in a way, for the time I put into writing up a post. I've found that some people will change the style of their writing to suit the audience that gives them all those comments (almost unanimously positive). This is not a good thing, in my opinion. In a few cases I've seen, writers will change their style to drive away that same audience. I can respect that in a way, even if it means the blog becomes a lot less fun to read. I've read some blogs where the comments are turned off, and those tend to be some of the better ones because they're the most honest. It's a very interesting little microcosm that the blog world has.
And yes, the Car Stalker one is definitely a favorite of mine. The running joke of Al B Sure that came from it was a happy bonus.
I also did not need to know that about the Great Big Giant And CheapAss Samoas, curse you alonzo mosely, I say CURSE YOU!
I have comments off on my blog, as you've noted. I used to always have comments on, but I found it fucked with my head because I'd hesitate to say things in a certain way, and then wonder what I did wrong if I didn't get comments on a post, or get irked at people's's's commentses. Or worse - people would treat my blog as a dialogue. And it's not a dialogue and I don't want it to be that. But you basically nailed it: I'm more honest without comments.
I also don't advertise my blog on my profile, nor have I registered in any any listings, nor do I want to be linked all over. I don't crave a big audience because, again: it just fucks with my head and therefore my writing. I really admire people who can be open and honest and compelling in their blogs even though lotsa people read them. It awes me. And it's so frikken rare.
Having given up anonymity early on and having 90% of the people I know "in real life" (I despise that term, though I haven't made up a better one yet) knowing about and reading my blog is what keeps me honest, really. If other people drop by and get what I'm saying, all the better. Would that change if I got 50 comments any time I posted anything? I would hope not, but never having been there, who knows for sure? Maybe something will bother me enough that I come full-circle and shut off the comments some day. We'll see.
I can remember when I first started writing, being frustrated that I'd never get any responses to stuff I thought was just awesome. It frustrates me a little bit when people grab onto throwaway jokes that I didn't think were that good. But at least there's something they liked, I guess. Still, I write this for me, and I write what I find interesting or funny. Maybe only two other people get my humor sometimes, but at least I gave those two people a laugh. Hell, I read the "this reads like I was high on crystal meth" one and I still laugh my ass off every time, even if it didn't garner a single comment when I posted it.
Side note: Is it wrong to crack yourself up with your own jokes?
i dont believe that people who post a lot of questions or write about controversial subjects are trying to get a lot of comments.
perhaps that's just what they are thinking about that day/hour/minute? controversial subjects are what i study in school, so they are always on my mind. it's not a choice. it's a fact. and i believe that other people are the same way.
I don't mind a good discussion in the comments (as seems to be beginning here) but I don't generally view blogs as message boards, per se. It's one thing to write out a few paragraphs explaining your views on a subject. It's another thing to post, say...
Abortion.
Anti-Choice or Pro-Death?
Discuss.
Big difference, to me at least. Not that there's anything wrong with a post like that, and an audience will certainly take to it. But I'd rather see a discussion evolve from someone's original views (like, say, my video game violence post) rather than one that's set up to be a confrontation from the start. But I'm big on going off on tangents anyway.
Man, I know what you are talking about with the blog lust thing. First you're all hot and bothered -- it's the newness of the relationship -- but then you realize you won't be disappointed if you don't hang out so much together anymore...
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